But I was most taken with Chanel's spring 2012 collection, which Vogue described as "an aquatic wonderland of gleaming white stingrays and sea horses adrift amongst coral branches and shells on a sandy sea bed. [The] models...looked like magical deep-sea sirens, from the pearls scattered in their hair to the sea-urchin shells that propped up the heels of their sandals." Here are some of my favorites from this collection.

First, the catwalk, which was totally amazing - if I had a real space for the Museum I'd do something just as extraordinary.

I was also intrigued by Van Cleef and Arpels' Atlantide collection, which featured a host of ocean-inspired pieces such as these beautiful mermaid and jellyfish pins.

But what really blew me away was the mini site the company set up for the collection - it perfectly articulates the feel I was going for. Here are some screenshots of it (but you should really visit the site directly to get the full effect):

(images from vancleefarpels.com)

Of course, while I wanted to bring out an otherworldly, ethereal mood, I couldn't resist throwing in a few "fun" pieces as well - MAC's cheeky Hey Sailor! collection and a couple of Too-Faced's summery Quickie Chronicles capture the more carefree side of summer. I also chose pale blue paper for the labels, which I thought went well with the themes.

So that's what was going on in the Curator's noggin when setting up this exhibition. Enjoy!

The top shelf, plus images from Vogue magazine that I was completely smitten with.

Middle shelves:

Bottom shelf:

Now for the individual shelves. Starting at the top, from left to right.